Ex-Cal star Goransson advances in Hamburg doubles

Andre Goransson won his first ATP doubles title in February.
File photo by Paul Bauman

   Third-seeded Andre Goransson (University of California, Berkeley, 2014-17) of Sweden and Jan Zielinski of Poland topped Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul of France 6-7 (3), 7-5 [10-3] in the first round of the €44,820 ($52,759) Hamburg Challenger. 

   Goransson and Zielinski are scheduled to play another French team, Hugo Gaston and Arthur Rinderknech, in the quarterfinals on Thursday. The 5-foot-8 (1.73-meter) Gaston, 20, reached the fourth round of singles in the recent French Open, ousting 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka. 

   Goransson won his first ATP title in February in Pune, India, with Christopher Rungkat of Indonesia. 

   Both Goransson and Rungkat have won a Challenger doubles title in Northern California, Goransson in Tiburon in 2017 with former Cal teammate Florian Lakat of France and Rungkat in Fairfield in 2018 with Sanchai Ratiwatana of Thailand.

   USTA Pro Circuit — Rain is forecast in Tyler, Texas, on Wednesday, when main-draw singles matches are scheduled to begin in the $80,000 Bellatorum Resources Pro Classic on outdoor hardcourts.

   Fifth-seeded Kristie Ahn, a 28-year-old Stanford graduate, is set to meet Hailey Baptiste, an 18-year-old wild card, for the first time at about noon PDT in an all-American encounter. Live streaming will be available.

   Baptiste, playing in her hometown, stunned second-seeded Madison Keys, the U.S. Open runner-up in 2017, in the first round in Washington, D.C., last year. Baptiste, however, is 0-3 since the pro tours resumed from the five-month COVID-19 hiatus in August.

   CiCi Bellis, a 21-year-old San Francisco native who grew up down the peninsula in Atherton, is scheduled to play sixth-seeded Anna-Lena Friedsam of Germany, at about 4 p.m. in a clash of former top-50 players. Bellis won last week's $80,000 Mercer Tennis Classic on hardcourts in Macon, Ga.

   Friedsam defeated Bellis 1-6, 7-6 (1), 6-3 in the second round of a $125,000 hardcourt tournament in San Antonio in 2016 in their only previous meeting.

   Katie Volynets, an 18-year-old wild card from Walnut Creek in the San Francisco Bay Area, is set to face a qualifier to be determined on Thursday in the opening round.